The older I get, the more aware I become of just how much wear and tear we put on our bodies. While I'm pretty healthy today (knock on wood!) I've gone through periods when an injury has caused me pain for weeks or months at a time.

Cur

I also know I shouldn't complain because I know people who've spent years dealing with some kind of chronic pain, and many of these people have no indication that they're ever going to get better.

So we buy jumbo-sized bottles of pain relievers or maybe get a prescription from our doctors, and we hope for the best.

Enter Cur, a company that hopes to take away your pain via technology. Cur is a wearable TENS (Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation ) therapy device. As the name suggests, TENS uses low voltage electric current to relieve pain. WebMD says

"When the current is delivered, some people experience less pain. This may be because the electricity from the electrodes stimulates the nerves in an affected area and sends signals to the brain that block or "scramble" normal pain signals. Another theory is that the electrical stimulation of the nerves may help the body to produce natural painkillers called endorphins, which may block the perception of pain."

Cur CEO and founder Shaun Rahimi says:

“If you have ever suffered from chronic pain, you know how awful it can be. Nothing is more frustrating than not being able to do the most basic things in your life like opening a door or getting out of bed. I know, because for years I dealt with debilitating arm and back pain until I discovered TENS. The first time I tried a clinical TENs machine I applied the treatment to my neck for 30 minutes and didn’t experience pain in that area for the next two days. With Cur, we wanted to provide people living with chronic pain the same immediate relief that you would expect from a $10,000 clinical TENS device, but in a miniaturized and effortless experience.”

Cur looks like a large bandage with a small box attached. You just stick in on wherever you're feeling pain and it's supposed to provide 60 hours of continuous relief "with use of accompanying carrying case." And of course there's a smartphone app to help you interact with the Cur.

You can pre-order Cur for $149 today which is half off the eventual retail price, but Cur is still awaiting FDA approval. They expect to ship in Winter 2015 and they say they "...will be undergoing clinical evaluations at leading pain institutions later this year."

As enticing as saving 50% off is, with a device like this I'd personally feel more comfortable waiting for an objective third party to report on how effective the tech is. (You may have noticed in the WebMD quote they say TENS is effective for some people so I'd also like to know if it works for me before spending money. I imagine giving a TENS machine at my doctor's office a try first would be prudent.)

Still I'm hopeful that Cur works; it seems like a much better solution to chronic pain than constantly taking drugs. (Keep in mind that I am most certainly not a doctor and I'm not qualified to give any kind of medical device.) I'm already envisioning some kind of glove-shaped Cur that'll help with the ever-growing arthritis pain in my fingers!